A number of attempts have been made to provide a steering wheel with a heater element to alleviate the uncomfortable touching of the steering wheel by a driver during cold weather.
The usual approach has involved the use of a length of resistance wire as heating elements, which are embedded within the steering wheel or which extend within a hollow steering wheel. An electrical current is then arranged to pass through the resistance wire.
However, such prior art arrangements have not been very successful due to various factors. For example, these prior art arrangements are complex and require major structural modifications of the steering wheel, which unduly adds to the cost of manufacture. A further difficulty includes the method of assembling such heating elements due to the complex three-dimensional shape of modern steering wheels, and the poor elongation characteristics of the heating element. As these previous approaches involved the use of a length of resistance wire as the heating element, either embedded within the steering wheel, within a protective sheath, and/or extending within a hollow steering wheel the inherent complexity required in applying the heating element, along with the major structural modifications required to the steering wheel itself, adds to the cost of manufacture making the use of such an arrangement undesirable.
Assembling a heating steering wheel can be labor intensive due to the complex three-dimensional shape of modern steering wheels and the poor elongation characteristics of heating elements. In addition, imperfections in the outer surface of the steering wheel can add to the labor issues and cost of assembling a heated steering wheel. For example, the so-called parting line a by product of the manufacturing process of the steering wheel core provides a protrusion that must be accounted for.